Monday, 22 April 2013

Edinburgh Christadelphian Ecclesia

I’ve
mentioned before that I find the Trinity a difficult concept to buy into. Think
about it: if Jesus was/is God, then lots of things he says about God in the
gospels make no sense, because he clearly isn’t talking about himself. Of
course, Trinitarians have all kinds of proofs and arguments to show how the
Trinity is implicit or explicit throughout the bible, including the Old
Testament.

One of
the daftest of these arguments cites the use of the plural form “Elohim” from
the very beginning of Genesis. “See,” they will tell you, “even at the creation there was
plurality in the godhead”, failing to recognise a) the singular verb, and b)
the fact that the plural can be used to indicate greater magnitude or
excellence as well as greater number. Okay, I’m no scholar, but this really is Hebrew
101 stuff.

The
Christadelphians don’t buy the Trinity either. It simply isn’t in the bible,
they say, and I’d concur with them. A summary of what Christadelphians believe explains their view of the status of Jesus and his relationship with God and
with humanity, among other things. I can’t say I agree with them on biblical
inerrancy, even with a caveat for transcription errors, or on other points of
their doctrine, but it’s as valid a perspective as any other.

But unless
you knew about the Christadelphians’ unique Christological stance, you probably
wouldn’t detect any difference between their form of worship and that of other independent churches – four hymns (first piano accompaniment was a bit
Les Dawson but things improved as the service went on), two bible readings, several
prayers, an “exhortation” (sermon) and breaking of bread.

The
wine was in a common cup with no napkin to wipe between recipients, which is
all very well for the cosy couples who were holding hands at every opportunity,
but rather less palatable for the rest of us. However, since non-members are
not invited to partake I was spared that germ-laden peril. I’ve never
understood the appeal of the common cup – other than to the church officer who
would otherwise have to wash up all those little shot glasses – or of the
over-handled bread. Do people believe that consecration removes bacteria?

The
exhortation drew on the two bible readings, John 15 and John 16, and on various
other passages of scripture, with references to Edinburgh’s road works (don’t
get me started!), cycling, horticulture and swans along the way, but
essentially the burden was that God treats us better than we deserve because he
recognises us differently from how we recognise ourselves.

Everyone
I spoke to was really lovely, very welcoming and friendly, full of enthusiasm
and information about their various groups and activities and their charity work in Bosnia. I’ve noted before that the welcome or lack of it can really make a difference to how I feel about a church, so the
Christadelphians get a big thumbs up on this score.

One of
the things I’ve been realising, though, is that the format I’ve chosen for my
Soul Search mission has some serious limitations. To get beyond the rituals and liturgies and the
platitudes that make up most sermons and through to the stuff about what a
particular denomination actually believes in would require more than attending
public worship. I would need to dig into their catechisms and confessions and
various brands of apologetics, attend their bible study groups, etc., and quite
frankly I don’t have time for that. All I can do is take a snapshot, although
the nice Christadelphians have said they’d be very happy to see me there again.
Well, we’ll see.

2 comments:

Hi, glad you enjoyed visiting our brothers and sisters in Edinburgh. I'm based in Glasgow and my ecclesia are doing 3 special public talks in February, one of which is about the Trinity. If you're interested here are some more details... http://www.searchforhope.org/glasgowsouth/tuesdayeveningsinfebruary